The Life Lost

What if I tell you that you are a murderer? Astoundingly the people you murdered were, or maybe, still are your friends. You probably had coffee with one this evening. But the fact that they have not been issued a death certificate is why they are not called dead, but the term that defines them is: 'lifeless'

Well, if you think everyone breathing is alive, know that you are judging Humans like plants. Alive may seem many, but few out there are actually alive. Many of your friends can possibly be dead. He might be vigorous physically but might be so dead from the inside.

An experiment was run on some kids aged 3-12 years. They were asked to do two of four things: sing, dance, draw a circle on a page or color a square, all in front of them. Surprisingly, 31% of 3-y/o chose to sing and dance, whereas not even one of 11-12y/o did. Only six 3-y/o's refused to sing/dance, whereas 75% of 11-12y/o's declined to do both. For the sake of facilitation of understanding, a kid, when small, is spontaneous enough to express themselves through performing: with no apprehension of being judged. But growing ones are intimidated by the surrounding people who, they think, might judge them based on their performances.

Notice how, as soon as a kid enters the labyrinth of reality, the terror of performance successfully banishes the boredom of drawing circles. It is astonishing how children's liveliness is inversely proportional to their theory of mind.¹

theory of mind enables us to understand that others have unique beliefs that are different from ours]

In early adolescence, teens get to notice their imperfections by means of comparing them to others. The small insecurities are lingered forever by the increasing bullying in high schools. The slightly insecure kid eventually starts hating himself; the confidence dies within him, and so does Life. That is what I call the 'Mental death'. This Mental death is so much worse than physical death that it makes the victim think physical death to be salvation. My first time on the stage is unforgettable. After few minutes of my speech, some ruthless words from the audience about my voice (my insecurity since always) snatched my words. I ran away from the stage to hide my tears. And. from the next day onwards, I was reminded of my terrible voice every now and then in the form of 'Bullying."

Not a unique story. Most teenagers face such tyranny at some point in their lives. The aftermath is vicious yet overlooked. An onerous time awaits the bullied. Repeated rebukes make him start hating himself. The teen eventually loses the life within him.

Well, few of us really care. Calculus is not alien to us, but mental health is.

Even parents do not seem to care. They are concerned only about grades, and the fact their kid might be dead inside does not ring a bell to them. That leaves the kid lifeless; and life, which takes billions of cells working and a heart beating 24/7, unappreciated and unenjoyed: irony! Consequently, society has way more people dead metaphorically than literally. They are just breathing corpses caught up in the realm of mundane illusion. As Charlie Chaplin said:

"The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way."

We are so caught up in the demotic concerns that we blindly follow the horrendous loop: quite like machines, we are born, and we die (meanwhile, we kill).

It is high time mental health should come to the limelight, to save ourselves

from dying years before we are buried.

The secret to life is amazingly simple; life lies in appreciation. By appreciating someone, we can save his life, and at the same time, we get a glimpse of our own life as well. And the best thing is we will never run out of things to appreciate, will never run out of life. All we got to do is notice things around, with a positive gesture. The world is full of blessings which makes the endeavor totally worth it.

After all, isn't life a beautiful notion to be in love with?